Gospel Reflection (Mark 10:2-16)

04 October 2009
27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mk. 10:2:16

By: Ms. Christine Marie Lim Magpile

Venus (not her real name) was always my best student.  However, her grades started to slip during her senior year when her parents got a legal separation.  While I was doing my practicum for my MA in Counseling, a little girl caught my attention as she was playing.  I asked her why the teddy bear “punched” the doll.  She said that Mr. Bear and Dollie were a “couple” and had a huge fight.
A colleague of mine shared her experience while she was teaching at a public school. She asked her pupil the reason for his tardiness but did not get a reply.  Irritated, she asked, “What is your father’s name?” “My father’s name is monster while my mom’s name is witch,” the pupil said.  “Where do you live?” my friend asked angrily.  “I live in hell,” the pupil said.
Later on, my colleague figured out that whenever the parents argue, they call each other “monster” or “witch” and refer their house as “hell.”
A child who grows in an unhappy environment because of quarrelling parents may end up being troubled or scarred.  A child makes the family not just complete but happy as well. A child’s home should not just offer a safe place.  It should be a place where the child can experience nurturing and loving from his parents.
Today’s Gospel speaks of the sacredness of man and woman’s union as husband and wife.  The Gospel tells us that when a man and woman enters into Holy Matrimony, God serves as a witness of their sacred vow - - to love each other in sickness and in health, ‘til death do us part.  Therefore, divorce which separates the union of a loving married couple is a violation of God’s commandment.  Likewise, adultery destroys the sanctity of marriage as it turns the love of the husband and wife into hatred.
Marriage is a great gift from God because it makes man and woman God’s partner in sharing and experiencing love especially with the birth of their child which signifies the start of a family.

Ching, as Christine is fondly called, is a full-time faculty of St. Peter the Apostle School. She teaches high school Social Studies.